The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has slammed a fine of N5 million on Trust Television Network (Trust TV).

Trust TV was fined over the broadcast of the documentary titled: “Nigeria’s banditry: The Inside story,” aired on March 5, 2022.

The Nation had reported Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed condemned the report, stating it was glorifying and glamourising bandits.

He threatened Trust TV and the British Broadcasting Commission (BBC) would be sanctioned for the broadcast.

The NBC, in a letter dated August 3 by its Director General, Balarabe Shehu Illela, said the fine was imposed on Trust TV because its broadcast of the documentary contravened sections of the National Broadcasting Code.

Reacting to the sanction in a statement, the management of Media Trust Group said: “While we are currently studying the Commission’s action and weighing our options, we wish to state unequivocally that as a television station, we believe we were acting in the public interest by shedding light on the thorny issue of banditry and how it is affecting millions of citizens of our country.

“The documentary traces the root of the communal tensions and systemic inadequacies which led to the armed conflict that is setting the stage for another grand humanitarian crisis in Nigeria. It presents insights into the intersection of injustice, ethnicity and bad governance as drivers of the conflict.

”It also aggregates voices of experts and key actors towards finding solutions, including those of the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Senator Saidu Mohammed Dansadau, who hails from one of the worst hit communities in Zamfara State.”

The statement added other experts that featured in the documentary include scholars like Professor Abubakar Saddique of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and Dr. Murtala Ahmed Rufai of the Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto, who have studied banditry for a long period. The documentary also brought to the fore the horrifying stories of victims of banditry.

Culled from The Nation